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Five years ago, who would have believed that Lily Allen<\/a> could sell out New York City\u2019s Radio City Music Hall for a performance of an entirely new album\u2014and nothing else. No \u201cSmile\u201d; no \u201cF\u2014k You\u201d; not one of her \u201800s\/\u201910s hits; heck, not even an encore.<\/p>\n More from Billboard<\/strong><\/p>\n That\u2019s not to diss the English singer-songwriter: most artists who\u2019ve been around for two decades have an uphill battle when it comes to getting longtime listeners interested in the new material. Fans buy concert tickets to hear the nostalgic hits of yesteryear and use the new songs as time for a bathroom break; if an artist is lucky, they might score a couple of songs per new album that genuinely get the crowd riled.<\/p>\n Plus, over the last decade, Allen had mostly made Stateside headlines for her personal life (she married Stranger Things actor David Harbour in 2020, splitting up last year), not her music (her 2018 album remains her lowest-charting LP on the Billboard 200).<\/p>\n All of which is to say that the Lily Allen career comeback of the last half-year is something no one (even Allen herself, it seems<\/a>) saw coming. And it\u2019s all the sweeter for coming out of nowhere, despite the messy, bitter fodder that yielded her critically acclaimed 2025 album about the disillusionment of being in a relationship with someone you can\u2019t trust and the dissolution of that marriage.<\/p>\n On Tuesday (April 14), Allen sold out Radio City to deliver that album, West End Girl, start to finish, as a one-woman show concert. No backing band, no backup dancers, no backup singers (the album\u2019s sole guest, Specialist Moss, appeared via video screen). And as previously mentioned, no encore\u2014anyone who wants to hear her retro hits will have to catch Allen\u2019s upcoming North American arena tour, which kicks off Sept. 3 in NYC\u2019s Madison Square Garden.<\/p>\n Despite the lack of \u201cSmile,\u201d the mostly millennial crowd was beaming as they left Radio City on Tuesday night, because they got exactly what they wanted: a potent, succinct performance of Allen\u2019s mid-career masterpiece.<\/p>\n Here are five highlights from Lily Allen\u2019s West End Girl show at Radio City Music Hall.<\/p>\n As Stop Making Sense taught us, when you have a minimal stage setup, a slow reveal goes a long way toward visual storytelling. Creative director\/set designer Anna Fleischle well understands that. Allen opened the show by stepping out from behind deep emerald-green curtains in a pink pencil skirt while cooing the calm-before-the-storm title track. For the one-sided phone conversation portion of \u201cWest End Girls,\u201d Allen crouched down and pantomimed the call using an old-school rotary landline. In spite of the downer subject matter, people in the audience were bouncing with glee to the exotica-tinged tune\u2014there was a pinch-me sense of watching Allen act out her narrative concept album in the flesh. <\/p>\n During the Latin pop-inflected \u201cMadeline,\u201d Allen busted out her best American accent, and just like on the album, it\u2019s a hoot\u2014a deliciously spiteful send-up of a self-involved, faux-mindful lady who doth protest too much.<\/p>\n On an album about cheating, lies and addictions, \u201cRelapse\u201d might be the most emotionally gutting song\u2014and that\u2019s saying something. \u201cI need a drink \/ I need a Valium \/ you pushed me this far and I just need to be numb,\u201d Allen sang while riffling through her purse, acting out the desperate pain of a person about to break their sobriety. \u201cIf I relapse, I know I stand to lose it all,\u201d she continued as light bulbs blinked on and off above her, echoing the song\u2019s skittering beats.<\/p>\n Allen\u2019s outfits were uniformly excellent, but special shoutout goes to that \u201c4chan Stan\u201d fit: A lengthy piece of olive-green fabric covered with (presumably real) receipts of purchases illuminating her then-husband\u2019s infidelities, which she gradually unravels, figuratively and literally. <\/p>\n Another excellent outfit was Allen\u2019s BDSM vinyl, which she donned to demonstrate her open marriage alter ego Dallas Major while feather dusting the bedroom. After singing the cheeky, vibey song of the same name, Allen\u2014cringe-smile plastered on her face\u2014attempted to curtsy, at least as much as one can in a form-fitting piece of vinyl.<\/p>\n On \u201cDallas Major,\u201d Allen sings, \u201cYou know I used to be quite famous way back in the day,\u201d but with the in-studio and onstage creative peaks she\u2019s reaching with West End Girl, it\u2019s probably safe to drop the \u201cused to be\u201d part of that lyric moving forward.<\/p>\n Best of Billboard<\/strong><\/p>\n Sign up for Billboard’s Newsletter<\/a>. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nThe Opening Salvo<\/h2>\n
That American Accent<\/h2>\n
Her Performance<\/h2>\n
The Fashion<\/h2>\n
Her Wry Humor<\/h2>\n